TRUMBULL COUNTY Testimony continues in trial on robbery, assault charges

WARREN -- Testimony is expected to continue today for a Pennsylvania man accused of beating and robbing a local bookstore clerk.
The trial for Jamal Derek Strickland, 30, of Cedar Avenue, Sharon, began Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge W. Wyatt McKay of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Prosecutors are expected to call additional witnesses today.
Strickland is facing charges of aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, kidnapping, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. He has pleaded innocent and is being held in the county jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.
Police said Strickland entered Niles Book and News store on Youngstown-Warren Road shortly before 4 a.m. April 12, beat and kicked clerk Clarence W. Leet Jr. of Vienna and took $62 and several adult movies and magazines. Police say they believe Strickland used a fire extinguisher to hit Leet.
Leet spent several days at St. Elizabeth Health Center, Youngstown.
Police located Strickland after a newspaper deliveryman, who drove up to the store and saw the robbery in progress, gave a description of Strickland's vehicle. When police stopped Strickland on state Route 46, he was spattered with blood and had adult movies in his SUV.
Reports say Strickland told police his friend committed the robbery.